Chapter 229

229.42(7)(b)3.a. a. The term for which he or she was appointed expires.

229.42(7)(b)3.b. b. A member that is subject to a residency requirement establishes a nonqualifying residence.

229.42(7)(b)3.c. c. A member that is appointed as a member from the food and beverage industry or the lodging industry no longer qualifies as an industry representative as described in sub. (4) (e).

229.42(7)(b)3.d. d. The member is removed by his or her appointing authority for malfeasance or nonfeasance in office.

229.42(8) (8) The board of directors shall elect from its membership a chairperson, a vice chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. A majority of the current membership of the board of directors constitutes a quorum to do business. Except as provided in ss. 66.0615 (1m) (b) and 77.981, the district may take action based on the affirmative vote of a majority of a quorum.

229.42(9) (9) The members of the board of directors shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

229.42 History History: 1993 a. 263; 1995 a. 134; 1999 a. 9; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 2015 a. 60; 2023 a. 146.

229.43 229.43 Jurisdiction. A district’s jurisdiction is the sponsoring municipality’s geographical area, except that, if the sponsoring municipality is a 1st class city, the district’s jurisdiction is that city and each city and village that is wholly or partly contained within the most populous county in which that city is located and except that no territory may be included within the jurisdiction of more than one district.

229.43 History History: 1993 a. 263.

229.435 229.435 Certification of board members. Within 30 days following the expiration of terms as described in s. 229.42 (4e) (a), and upon the secretary of administration issuing the certification described in s. 229.42 (4e) (d), each person who may appoint members to a board of directors under s. 229.42 (4), (5) or (6) shall certify to the department of administration the names of the persons appointed to the board of directors under s. 229.42 (5) or (6) or, if the sole sponsoring municipality is a 1st class city, the names of the persons appointed to the board of directors under s. 229.42 (4).

229.435 History History: 1993 a. 263; 2015 a. 60.

229.44 229.44 Powers of a district. A district has all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this subchapter. In addition to all other powers granted by this subchapter, a district may do any of the following:

229.44(1) (1) Adopt and alter an official seal.

229.44(2) (2) Sue and be sued in its own name, plead and be impleaded.

229.44(3) (3) Maintain an office.

229.44(4) (4) Do any of the following in connection with an exposition center and exposition center facilities and sports and entertainment arena and sports and entertainment arena facilities:

229.44(4)(a) (a) Acquire, construct, equip, maintain, improve, operate and manage the exposition center and exposition center facilities, or engage other persons to do these things. Acquire, construct, and equip the sports and entertainment arena and sports and entertainment arena facilities, or engage other persons to do these things. If the professional basketball team or its affiliate breaches the non-relocation agreement or lease under s. 229.461, the district may equip, maintain, improve, operate, and manage the sports and entertainment arena and sports and entertainment arena facilities, or engage other persons to do these things, but only from moneys received from the parent company of the professional basketball team, the professional basketball team, or its affiliate resulting from the breach of the non-relocation agreement or lease.

229.44(4)(b) (b) Acquire; lease, as lessor or lessee; use; or transfer or accept transfers of property. With the approval of all sponsoring municipalities of the district, the district may acquire property by condemnation using the procedure under s. 32.05 or 32.06.

229.44(4)(c) (c) Improve, maintain, and repair real property, except that the district may only improve, maintain, and repair the sports and entertainment arena facilities, or engage other persons to do these things, if the professional basketball team or its affiliate breaches the non-relocation agreement or lease under s. 229.461 and only from moneys received from the parent company of the professional basketball team, the professional basketball team, or its affiliate resulting from the breach of the non-relocation agreement or lease.

229.44(4)(d) (d) Enter into contracts. Except as provided in s. 229.461, all contracts, the estimated costs of which exceed $100,000, except contracts subject to s. 229.46 (5) and contracts for personal or professional services, shall be subject to bid and shall be awarded to the lowest qualified and competent bidder. The district may reject any bid that is submitted under this paragraph.

229.44(4)(e) (e) Grant concessions.

229.44(4)(f) (f) Sell or otherwise dispose of unneeded or unwanted property.

229.44(5) (5) Employ personnel, and fix and regulate their compensation; and provide, either directly or subject to an agreement under s. 66.0301 or 229.47 (1) as a participant in a benefit plan of another governmental entity, any employee benefits, including an employee pension plan.

229.44(6) (6) Purchase insurance, establish and administer a plan of self-insurance or, subject to an agreement with another governmental entity under s. 66.0301 or 229.47 (1), participate in a governmental plan of insurance or self-insurance.

229.44(7) (7) Mortgage, pledge or otherwise encumber the district’s property or funds.

229.44(8) (8) Issue bonds under ss. 229.48 to 229.56 and enter into agreements related to the issuance of bonds, including liquidity and credit facilities, remarketing agreements, insurance policies, guaranty agreements, letter of credit or reimbursement agreements, indexing agreements, interest exchange agreements and currency exchange agreements.

229.44(9) (9) Maintain funds and invest the funds in any investment that the board considers appropriate.

229.44(10) (10) Direct its agents or employees, if properly identified in writing, to enter upon real property within its jurisdiction to make surveys and examinations before locating or constructing an exposition center or exposition center facilities, without incurring liability by the district, its agents or employees except for actual damage done. Before directing anyone to enter real property under this subsection, the district shall give the owner and occupant of the property at least 5 days’ written notice.

229.44(11) (11) Promote, advertise and publicize its exposition center, exposition center facilities and related activities.

229.44(12) (12) Set standards governing the use of, and the conduct within, its exposition center and exposition center facilities in order to promote public safety and convenience and to maintain order.

229.44(13) (13) Establish rates or other charges for the use of its exposition center and exposition center facilities or for services rendered by the district.

229.44(14) (14) Enter into partnerships, joint ventures or other arrangements with other persons, including other districts created under this subchapter, to further the district’s purposes.

229.44(15) (15) If the district’s sponsoring municipality adopts a resolution described under s. 229.50 (1) (a), and if the district’s sponsoring municipality agrees to stop imposing and collecting its room tax under s. 66.0615 (1m) (a), adopt a resolution to impose the taxes under ss. 66.0615 (1m), 77.98 and 77.99, except that, if a district adopts a resolution under this subsection, it shall deliver a certified copy of the resolution to the secretary of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date.

229.44 History History: 1993 a. 263; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 2015 a. 60.

229.445 229.445 Ticket surcharge. The board of directors shall require the sponsor of an event held at a sports and entertainment arena to impose a $2 surcharge on each ticket that is sold to the event. The event sponsor shall forward to the board of directors any surcharges collected under this section. The board of directors shall submit 25 percent of the amount received under this section to the department of administration for deposit into the general fund and shall retain the remainder for the district.

229.445 History History: 2015 a. 60.

229.45 229.45 Powers granted to sponsoring municipality. In addition to any powers that it may otherwise have, a sponsoring municipality may do any of the following:

229.45(1) (1) Make grants or loans to a district upon terms that the sponsoring municipality considers appropriate.

229.45(2) (2) Expend public funds to subsidize a district.

229.45(3) (3) Borrow money under ss. 67.04 and 67.12 (12) for exposition center facilities or to fund grants, loans or subsidies to a district.

229.45 History History: 1993 a. 263.

229.46 229.46 Certain contracting requirements.

229.46(1) (1) In this section:

229.46(1)(ag) (ag) “Disabled veteran-owned business” means a business certified by the department of administration under s. 16.283 (3).

229.46(1)(am) (am) “Minority business” has the meaning given in s. 200.49 (1) (a).

229.46(1)(b) (b) “Minority group member” has the meaning given in s. 16.287 (1) (f).

229.46(1)(c) (c) “Women’s business” means a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture or corporation that is at least 51 percent owned, controlled and actively managed by women.

229.46(2) (2) A person who is awarded a contract by a district shall agree, as a condition to receiving the contract, that at least 25 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be minority group members, at least 5 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be women, and at least 1 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be employees of a disabled veteran-owned business, if any of the following applies:

229.46(2)(a) (a) The contract is for the construction of any part of an exposition center.

229.46(2)(b) (b) The contract results in the hiring of individuals who will work at the exposition center.

229.46(3) (3) At least 25 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to minority businesses, at least 5 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to women’s businesses, and at least 1 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to disabled veteran-owned businesses:

229.46(3)(a) (a) Contracts for the construction of an exposition center.

229.46(3)(b) (b) Contracts entered into by the district for the purchase of services to be performed at the exposition center.

229.46(3)(c) (c) Contracts for the underwriting of bonds.

229.46(3m) (3m) It shall be a goal of a district, with regard to each of the contracts described under sub. (3) (a), (b) and (c), to award at least 25 percent of the dollar value of such contracts to minority businesses.

229.46(4) (4) This section applies only to an exposition center that is being constructed under contracts that are funded by the proceeds of a bond issue that is secured by a special debt service reserve fund under s. 229.50.

229.46(5) (5) Before a district initially constructs an exposition center or exposition center facilities, or enters into contracts for such initial construction, the district shall do all of the following:

229.46(5)(a) (a) Adopt or revise a program statement that includes all of the following:

229.46(5)(a)1. 1. An identification of the functions to be conducted in the exposition center or exposition center facilities.

229.46(5)(a)2. 2. An estimate of the space requirements for the functions described under subd. 1.

229.46(5)(a)3. 3. Minimum design requirements for the spaces described under subd. 2.

229.46(5)(a)4. 4. Site development requirements for the exposition center and exposition center facilities.

229.46(5)(a)5. 5. A maximum cost of the project.

229.46(5)(b) (b) Prescribe criteria for the preparation of requests for proposals for the initial construction of the exposition center and exposition center facilities. The criteria shall include all of the following:

229.46(5)(b)1. 1. The scope of responsibilities of the person or group of persons submitting the proposal.

229.46(5)(b)2. 2. The contractual relationships between a group of persons submitting a proposal.

229.46(5)(b)3. 3. General architectural elements.

229.46(5)(b)4. 4. Electrical systems.

229.46(5)(b)5. 5. Mechanical systems.

229.46(5)(b)6. 6. Plumbing systems.

229.46(5)(b)7. 7. Structural elements.

229.46(5)(c) (c) Solicit competitive sealed proposals for the design and initial construction of the exposition center and exposition center facilities. The panel described under sub. (6) shall evaluate the proposals using a 2-phase selection process. Under the first phase, offerors shall submit information responding to the district’s request for proposals, including the experience and past performance of the offerors, a management plan, general concept design features and a price analysis. An offeror may be eliminated from further consideration by the panel without discussion if any minimum requirements of the request for proposal are not met. The panel shall evaluate all first-phase proposals and select not more than 3 offerors to submit 2nd-phase proposals. All 2nd-phase proposals shall include all of the following:

229.46(5)(c)1. 1. Responses to any comments or questions by the panel relating to first phase submissions.

229.46(5)(c)2. 2. Refined initial design concepts, management plan and materials relating to experience and past performance.

229.46(5)(c)3. 3. A development schedule.

229.46(5)(c)4. 4. A guaranteed maximum price for the design and initial construction of the exposition center and exposition center facilities.

229.46(5)(c)5. 5. Detail of any fees, including all professional service and development fees.

229.46(5)(c)6. 6. Evidence that is satisfactory to the panel of the offeror’s ability to obtain bonds guaranteeing the offeror’s performance and bonds guaranteeing the payment for labor and materials by the offeror in amounts specified by the panel.

229.46(5)(c)7. 7. Any other information and materials requested by the panel.

229.46(5)(d) (d) Publish a class 2 notice under ch. 985 requesting the first-phase proposals described under par. (c). The advertisement shall include the date by which the proposals must be submitted, which shall be at least 7 days after the date of the last insertion of the notice.

229.46(5)(e) (e) Forward to the panel described under sub. (6), for its recommendations, all first-phase and 2nd-phase proposals received under par. (c).

229.46(6) (6) 

229.46(6)(a) (a) The district shall convene an evaluation panel to make recommendations concerning the competitive sealed proposals that the district solicits and receives under sub. (5). The panel shall consist of the following members:

229.46(6)(a)1. 1. A representative appointed by the chief executive officer of the city with the largest population within the district’s jurisdiction, as that term is used in s. 229.43.

229.46(6)(a)2. 2. Two representatives appointed by the secretary of administration, one of whom shall be a registered engineer and one of whom shall be a registered architect.

229.46(6)(a)3. 3. A representative appointed by the district who has experience in the construction of major facilities.

229.46(6)(a)4. 4. The comptroller of the sponsoring municipality with the largest population within the district’s jurisdiction, as that term is used in s. 229.43, except that if the sponsoring municipality does not have a comptroller the representative shall be the chief financial officer of the sponsoring municipality.

229.46(6)(b) (b) The panel under par. (a) shall evaluate the proposals and make its recommendations based on the adequacy of the responses to the information solicited in the district’s request for proposals, including the following factors:

229.46(6)(b)1. 1. The guaranteed maximum price.